The issue should be on the newsstand any minute and some of you may have gotten your subscriptions. We have a few kits HERE.

Things have been comfortably slow during this Polar Vortex Part Duex. We are fine tuning our upcoming patterns and waiting on the new fabric to start making them. Our making of the quilts is the proof-reading of the pattern, so that time is particularly tense. On the good side of that is we are not going to be terribly rushed to get ready for Spring Quilt Market. All is moving along at a comfortable pace - and that is greatly appreciated as the last week has been a bit of a challenge with both Bill and I down with the flu. It is not too late to get your flu shot - and I'm telling you that if you can avoid this bug - you will be grateful.

The bit of down time has been spent on other odds and ends projects and I made myself something. I needed a little carry-all for my big leather tote bag and I made this with the scraps left over from my Blue Nantucket quilt….

How did I make it? Where is the pattern? Well, that is a story. Not feeling well, and wanting to spend my day stitching under a quilt and watching British Murder Mysteries - I decided to make this all by hand and not by sitting at a sewing machine. I got out all my Japanese quilt books - you know, the ones with the covetous bags and doo-hickies and all the directions in Japanese? Those. They do have great pictures, though. So I looked through them and made my bag with the help of those graphics and my own fevered brain. Believe me, if I can do it - so can you. Here is just a partial pile of those lovely books.

I didn't really use one set of directions, but picked and chose what worked for what I had. The stitching was all by hand - even the construction of all the layers of the bag and zipper. Whee! I am pretty happy with it - but one side seam was less than beautiful. What to do? Unsew? Never. I just made this tag and covered the less than beautiful seam. This is a full disclosure blog.

I can tell you that you will see a few more of these little lovelies this month on the blog - and I'll be a bit more forthcoming on the directions. Thanks.

This was a fun quilt to make with Midwinter Reds and it is a copy of an actual antique game board that Polly has in her home. The quilt is entirely pieced and I used lots of hand quilting when I finished it.

We have some of these kits available in out Etsy shop and you can find them HERE

Monday, January 20, 2014

Are available! - and if you want backings I have a few of those too. When you order the kit - let me know.

Not much else going on here. I went to a kids hockey game this weekend and as usual…… I came home with a cold. I think it's the combination of sitting in a hockey rink for several hours and also being exposed to kids germs. Hockey rinks - the breeding ground for viruses and bacteria. Someone should do a study.

Hopefully I'll have pictures of NEW things in a few days ….. keep watching.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Some of you might remember that the Nantucket quilt that has been popular the last few months (so popular that we use it for our logo) It was a reincarnation of a quilt that came out with our first fabric collection - Nantucket. The quilt was an exact copy of a rug that Polly had made - transferred into pieced fabric. People had been asking about the pattern and we did it again with Midwinter Reds. We made it a bit bigger this time around.

I decided to re-make it. I made one the first time around with the Nantucket collection. Leigh Ann pieced the one made out of Midwinter Reds. I decided to use some of my stash and make it in blue. I'm out of most of the Midwinter Red fabric :( I used some Indigo Crossing, some Prairie Paisley II, and some Grant Park. I made the stars last weekend…..

Today I finished all the 9-patches and put it all together. I JUST made it in time to get a picture of it outside before the sunset.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll be teaching this quilt (in Midwinter Red fabrics) at the Nimble Thimble in Tyler Texas in 2 weeks. If you're in the area, and would like to join me for the weekend - give them a holler.

Keep watching our Etsy store. It looks like we will have some more of the Midwinter Red Scarf kits that flew out of here last month. I expect that fabric next week. Also, there will be a brand new quilt kit that will appear in the next issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. Those kits are all cut and waiting for the issue to ship to subscribers. That should be the last week of this month. No sneak peaks until then.

Oh, and we do have another new kit……

Hurrah! is here. I'm cutting these kits this weekend and they will ship out on Monday morning.

Friday, January 10, 2014

I've been needing to post all week, but the lack of anything interesting has kept me from the keyboard. Until today. Lucky you.

The polar vortex has moved on and in it's place we have fog, mist, and the promise of rain. The change of weather is taken in stride by Gibby and his best friend Clara. Here they are way in the foreground wrestling in the snow a few days ago.

See what I mean by nothing exciting going on? At least nothing exciting if you are a human.

When news is slow - my last resort is to check my iPhone for the last few photographs I have taken. It isn't much, but here goes….

I'm in a bit of limbo here waiting for our new fabric to land on the porch. Once that gets here we can move forward to the next step in pattern writing and quilt making. In lieu of that, progress is being made with Mrs. Billings. I've had questions from some of the folks who purchased the pattern from us. I will say that 2 notions are a must - one is a lazy susan type rotary cutting board and a rotary cutter with a small head. The other would be a sand paper board for when you mark your pieces. This is mine. It is well used.

In addition to Mrs. Billings and the taxes (yes, my part is completed. I have never felt so virtuous), I have even started some cross stitch. This is one silk thread worked over 2 minuscule linen threads. That needle is the smallest tapestry needle I could find. I found that my tri-focals were not cutting it. My answer to that was a lighted magnifying lens that hangs around my neck. That didn't quite do it either. My next attempt was to forgo the try-focals and buy the strongest pair of drug store readers I could find. (I typed in tri-focals, but it was autocorrected to try-focals. I'm keeping it) These are so-so. I think the next stage are these….

What else… like everyone else in the new year I am looking for positive changes and better organization. I found these at Costco…..

Stackable storage boxes! One I filled with specialty threads like hand dyed floss, and linen and wool threads. The next is 45 spools of hand quilting thread. When the stores refuse to sell to me anymore - I'm ready! Another has my above mentioned cross stitch, the lighted lens and the drug store readers. It's all waiting for me when I feel the need to squint. These were a DEAL people! The stack of 5 is $19.95.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

I had big plans. Big plans of great, NYE festive photos. You see, there has been a big event here in Ann Arbor the past few days, ending today with the Winter Classic Hockey game. All the streets downtown were blocked off to traffic last night and there was a huge New Year's Eve block party with a neon dropping puck. We had plans, really we did. A brisk evening walk followed by lots of pictures. Did I mention it got very cold? Did I mention it started snowing?

So, the next couple of pictures are from our local newspaper/blog….

Last night was spent wrapped up in a quilt, with cocoa watching the Red Wing/Maple Leaf Alumni game on TV. We still harbored plans of getting to the Winter Classic today. The prices of tickets on Stubhub are plunging - much like the temperature. But….. I don't think fresh croissants and hot coffee are readily available in the Big House.

Besides, here at home, I can work on my Mrs. Billings while I watch the game.

Still, Bill and Gibby played a little Winter Classic in the back yard this morning. Happy New Year from all of us at Minick and Simpson.